Means for operating the doors of retort-furnaces, coke-ovens, and the like from a distance.



P. RIECKB. MEANS FOR OPERATING THE DOORS OF RETORT FURNACES, COKE OVENS,

AND THE LIKE FROM A DISTANGEL' APPLIOATION FILED P33. 13, 1909.

925,65 1 Patented June 22;1909.

- 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

y Z P. RIEGKE. MEANS FOR OPERATING THE DOORS 0F RETORT FURNA AND THE LIKE FROM A DISTANCE.

' APPLIOATION FILED FEB. 13, 1909. 925,651;

CBS, COKE OVENS;

Pqtefited June 22, 1909.

2 SHEETQ-SHEET 2.

A flora eys.

UNITED STAWENT OFFICE. I

PAUL- R EcKEQoF DESSAU, GERMANY.

HANS FOR OPERATING THE LIIGE FROM A DISTANCE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 22, 1909.;

Application filed February 13, 1909. Seria1 No.477,508.

T all whom it may concern: I

Be it known that 1, PAUL Rnsonn, a citizen of the Empire of Germany, residing at l Dessau, Germany, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Means for Open ating the Doors of Retort-Furnaces, Coke- ,O'vens, and the Like from a Distance, of

' which the'follo'wing is a full, clear, and exact description.

In retort furnaces or coke ovens for gasifying coal and converting it into coke it is customary to have a number of inclined retorts located side by side, the discharge doors being located at the lower ends of the retorts, so that when such doors have been unlocked and opened the incandescent coke will slide out by gravity; or when the bottom of the retort's is horizontal, a pushing, drawing, or conveying mechanism of any approved character is employed to discharge the coke through the open door.

It is convenient to lock and-unlock the doors from a distance, and various devices of this character have been proposed. As a rule the doors are, for this purpose, pivoted at their upper ends above the outlets of the retorts and the lower ends of the doors are provided with racks adapted for engagement with pinions, by the turning of which the.

doors may be locked or unlocked.

According to my present invention the devices for locking or unlocking the several doors are operated from a common shaft in the particular manner hereinafter described and claimed, whereby the operation of. the doors from a distance is greatly facilitated and simplified.

In the accompanying drawings I .have illustrated the application of my invention "to inclined retorts, but it will be well understood that the invention is not limited to such. v I

Figure l is a front elevation with parts in section showing a portion of a retort furnace provided with my invention; Fig. 2 is a vertical section on line 2-2 of Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is a detail of the mechanism shown in front elevation, but on alarger scale than 'in Fig.1; Fig. 4 is a vertical section online 4& of Fig. 3 and Fig. .5 shows upon an 'enlarged scale a detail of the gearing.

. Fig. lshows three adjoining chambers or i retorts'ljofarfurnace, the lower or outlet 1 1 'ends' of' said chambers being surrounded by frames 2, which are let into the frame or DOORS OF RETORT-FURNACES, (EDIE-OVENS, THE

setting 3 of the furnace areheldjn" I sition by means of channel bars l t extending close to the furnace wall and'of nuts 5, held by said channel bars and fitted on' screw threaded studs 6 projected from saidj'frame 2. The openings .or outlets are: closedgby doors 7 which fit tightly against the frames 2 and are secured movably to st-irrups or bars 10 by means of lugs 9, having slots. to receive bolts 12 which connect the bars 10 ,be-

longing to the same'door. Springs 8 are interposed between each door 7'. and thecorresponding bars 10. The entire door struc ture may swing about a pivotll with which the bars 10 are connected. as shown, said pivot being located on the frame 2 above the" outlet opening of the retort.

The lower ends of the bars 10 are U-sha'p'ed as shown best in Fig. 2 and provided with small racks 13 engaging pinions let which are arranged in pairs. Each two pinions are secured'to the ends of-the shaft 15 journaled in the frame 2 below the chute 16 which is: located in the continuation of the inclined bottoniof the retort 1. Between the pinions 14: the shaft 15, carries a worm wheel 17 permanently in mesh with a worm l8 the'shaft'19' of which is also journaled' in the frame .2

and carries a bevel gear 20 at itsouter end. a

. relatively thin rod 24 so that a space is left between said rod and the hubs of said gears. The rod 24: is capablexofshdmg lengthwise and also ofrotatmg, being supported for instance on the frame 2.and also .at' the end' on a bracket which may be secured to one of the channel bars 4. QThe rod QAcarries a series of clutch disks 26,v one foreach of the bevel gears 21,- and the projections of these clutch disks may be brought intoor out of engagement (by alongitudinalmove-.

ment of the rod 24:)with corresponding clutch teeth 27 projected inwardly froi'nthe hubs of the bevel gears 2 1.' The bevel gears;='ll0 may thus be connected with or disconnected from the rod 24 to rotate therewith, or to become independent thereof. vThe relative location of the several clutch disks 26 on the rod 24 is such that when one of the clutch disks is in operative position or registry with the clutch teeth 27 of one of the bevel gears 21, then all the other clutch disks 26 carried by said rod 24. are out of registry with the projections 27 on all the other bevel gears 21. In other words, only one of the doors can at the time be in operative relation to the mechanism controlled by the rod 24 and a separate position of said rod corresponds tothe registry of each individual coupling disk 26 with the respective clutch teeth 27. The longitudinal adjustment of the rod 24 may be effected in any suitable manner, as by means of a hand lever 28 pivoted at its lower end to one of the channel bars 4 and provided with jaws 29 having a pin and slot connection to allow them to slide, said jaws-engaging a collar 30 capable of turning on the rod 24, but held against moving lengthwise relative thereto. The upper end of the lever 28 moves in a guide 31 on which lever which corresponds to the connection of the mechanisms of the several doors with the rod 24:. Pins (see Figs. 3 and 4) may be used to hold the lever in these various positions. The rod 21 also serves as an operating shaft or spindle and may, for this purpose, extend through a sprocket 33 journaled in the bracket 23, said sprocket wheel being held against longitudinal movement, but capable of rotation with the shaft 24; for instance a tongue and groove connection may be employed between the shaft and sprocket wheel together with means for-preventing the sprocket wheel from moving lengthwise relatively to the bracket 25 (see Fig. The sprocket wheel 33 is driven by means of a chain 34 from a sprocket wheel 35, which may be journaled in a bracket 36 carried by one of the channel bars at at the end of the furnace. A crank 37 is provided for turning the sprocket wheel 35.

If it is desired to empty the retort 1 which is farthest away from the crank 37, then the hand-lever 28 isbrought into the extreme position shown in Fig. 1., thus bringing the coupling disk 26 which is at the extreme left into operative relation to the bevel gear 21 which-controls the mechanism of the door shown at theextreme left of Fig. 1. If then the crank 37 is turned in the proper direction, the pinions 14 corresponding to said door will be turned in such a manner as to disengage them from the respective racks 13, thus unlocking the door. Any a proved device may then be em 10 ed to fully open the. unlocked door an t us allow the incandescent coke to slide out over the-chu'te16.',' When the door has-been which at the time is inre'gistry with an opbrought to the closing position, the racks 13 will be close to the pinions 14: and if then the crank 37 is turned in the direction opposite to that first employed, the door will be pressed tightly against the frame 2 as shown in Fig. 2.

If it is desired to operate the door-locking mechanism of the middle retort shown in Fig. 1, the hand lever 28 is moved to the right as indicated by the arrow until it registers with the central hole of the guide 31, and in this position the locking mechanism of the central door is in operative relation to the shaft 24 by the clutch mech- 'anism 26-27 and this mechanism may be actuated to lock or unlock the door by turning the crank 37 in one direction or the other as described above. Similarly, by throwing the hand-lever 28 fully to the right, the mechanism of the retort door shown at the right of Fig. '1 will be broufght into opera-' tive connection with the sha t 24.

It will be understood that I may employ various other constructions of clutches and devices for operating them, without departi ing from the nature of my invention. suitable marks indicate the position of the v rality of devices, each adapted for registry with one (if said mechanisms to operate the same, means for shifting said rod lengthwise, and means for rotating the rod to operate one or the other of said mechanisms.

2. The combination of a furnace having a plurality of retorts, doors for closing the individual retorts, individual mechanisms for locking and unlocking the several doors, a longitudinally movable rod carrying a plurality of clutch members, cooperating clutch members on each of said mechanisms, means for shifting said rod lengthwise, and means for rotating the rod.

3. The combination of a furnace having plurality of retorts, doors for closing the individual retorts, individual mechanisms for f locking and unlocking the several doors, a plurality of operating clutch members connected to mov in unison, corresponding driven clutch members on each of said mechanisms, the distance between the operating clutch members being different from that between the driven clutch members so that only one pair of clutch members may be brought into operative registry at a time, means for shifting the said connected clutch members to bring them into or out of regis try with the driven clutch -members, and means for rotating the connected clutch. members to actuate the, door -mechanism crating clutch member.

4. The combination of a furnace having a ing said rod lengthwise and means for roplurality of retorts, doors for closing the intating the rod. dividual retorts, individual mechanisms for In testimony whereof I have hereunto set locking and unlocking the several doors, a my hand in the-presence'of two subscribing 5 longitudinally movable rod carrying a plul witnesses:

rality of clutch members, corresponding 5 driven clutch members connected to pinions l on each of said mechanisms, said driven 'lVitnes'ses; clutch members having hollow hubs for the Vonnmmn Himr'r, 10 passage of the movable rod, means for shifti HENRY HASPER.

PAUL RIECKE. 

